“ You realize the forces I can bring to bear against you, child? You realize the power I have, the destruction I represent? I am mountains that crush. I am waves that crash. I am storms that shatter. I am the end.”

Contents

Ruin seeks change. It is not inherently evil, because without death there is no change, but its destructive actions are often contrary to life existing peacefully. This intent has not changed with the Fusing of Preservation; it is just tempered by it.

Ruin fuels Hemalurgy, one of the three Metallic Arts on Scadrial. Hemalurgy is a unique magic in that unlike most it is not limited to Scadrial and can be use by anyone anywhere. Hemalurgy is a method of removing a portion of a person's spirit web and grafting it onto someone else.
Individuals who are pierced by Hemalurgic spikes can hear Ruin's voice in their head. The more spikes in a person the more holes in their spirit web, this allows for easier control by the Vessel of Ruin. Inquisitors with 11 spikes are more susceptible than Kandra with only 2 Spikes.

A black mist is a manifestation of Ruin's power. How this affects Hemalurgy is unknown if at all. This mist was present at the Well of Ascension upon Vin's discovery of the well. A similar manifestation appears after Ati's death before Sazed takes up both shards. After the Final Ascension, black mists are sent forth by Harmony, as well as the usual mists, which are of Preservation.

Liquid

Pools of metallic liquid are said to exist below the Pits of Hathsin and this is the liquid form of Ruin's power. Before the days of the Final Empire, these pools were a black lake with a metallic sheen, located high in the Terris mountains, close to the Well of Ascension.[5][6]

Solid

The solid form of Ruin's power, a metal known as atium, allows the user to see a few seconds into the future when Allomantically burned. Atium can also be used to store youth with Feruchemy, that youth can be compounded to create a semblance of agelessness. Atium when used as a Hemalurgic spike is able to steal any attribute, whether it be Allomancy, Feruchemy, or human.

Ruin and Preservation, the two Shards on Scadrial, struck a deal to create life on the planet. Neither Shard could create by themselves but working together they created life. Preservation gave an extra bit of Its self to create sentient life. Ruin allowed Preservation to do this on the agreement that Ruin could destroy everything. This left an imbalance between both shards.

Preservation broke the terms of the agreement by sacrificing his mind to create a prison for Ruin's mind, preventing him from destroying the world. Furthermore, in an attempt to balance the power (since some of Preservation was now stored in humanity), he sequestered away a portion of Ruin's power by condensing it into the metal atium.

Ruin's entrapped mind could still influence the world. In particular, he changed the prophecies left behind by Preservation in an attempt to get the Hero of Ages to release him from his prison. This led to Rashek becoming the Lord Ruler. Ruin also encouraged the mists, left behind by Preservation, to choke off sunlight to the planet. This is what became known as the Deepness from Pre-Ascension times.

Ruin was released from his prison accidentally by Vin 1024 years later (due to his manipulating the prophecies), and he immediately went on a rampage to destroy Scadrial. Central to this plan was his need to overcome Preservation, which meant that he needed to find the stash of atium left behind by the Lord Ruler.

Ruin's rampage was ended when he had Marsh kill Elend. Vin (holding the shard Preservation) realized she had nothing more to live for, and killed herself and took Ati with her.

The end of Ruin was Preservation's plan all along. Leras had held the Preservation shard for so long that he was bound by its intent, and could not kill or destroy anything, not even Ruin. He arranged to have the Shard pass on to a new holder, someone who would not immediately be so strongly bound, so they would have more freedom to use its power.

Sazed picked up both Ruin and Preservation following Vin's sacrifice, and is the current Vessel of both Shards. Ruin's power was co-mingled with Preservation's forming the shard Harmony.[3]

“ Do not mourn because the day of this world's end has arrived. That end was ordained the very day of the world's conception. There is a beauty in death--the beauty of finality, the beauty of completion.

“This process we are engaged in, the end of all things—-it's not a fight, but a simple culmination of inevitability. Can any man make a pocket watch that won't eventually wind down? Can you imagine a lantern that won't eventually burn out? All things end. Think of me as a caretaker—-the one who watches the shop and makes certain that the lights are turned out, that everything is cleaned up, once closing time arrives.
”

“You are a piece of me, you know. Beautiful destroyer. Blunt and effective. Of all those I've claimed over this brief thousand years, you are the only one I think just might be able to understand me.
”

“For Ruin, there is Preservation. Time immemorial! Eternity! And each time I push, YOU push back. Even when dead, you stopped me, for we are forces. I can do nothing! And you can do nothing! Balance! The curse of our existence.
”